10 Ezzy Activities
by JoeMerl
Summary: Ten fairly normal activities, from the perspective of one very odd couple. Izzy/Ezekiel short-story collection, dedicated to Imagi and The Kobold Necromancer. Final chapter: Flying. COMPLETE!
1. Dancing

**Author's Notes: **Hello, readers! To those who don't know, today is **Imagi's** birthday! *party blower noise* Whoo! Happy birthday. And, by an odd coincidence, it's also exactly one month until the birthday of **The Kobold Necromancer.** *party blower noise again* Whoo! And, since I like to write birthday fics for people I know, I've been trying to come up with something to do for them, and, since I'm kind of already _drowning_ in other stories (my own fault there), I decided to combine these two events. And what's one thing that both of these awesome authors like?

If you read them, you probably already know the answer: _Ezzy._

So, in honor of you guys, I present a collection of Izzy/Ezekiel one-shots (based on some prompts I got on a LiveJournal community), to be published randomly from now until The K.N.'s birthday October 3. Hope everyone enjoys, birthday girl and soon-to-be-boy especially! :-D

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**Chapter One  
Dancing**

Ezekiel hated to dance.

I mean, he was just so bad at it, eh? He just wasn't built for it. He was short and stocky, kind of awkward sometimes, with hands and feet that seemed too huge and awkward for the rest of his body. He wasn't graceful or particularly smooth on his feet. He wasn't too clumsy, most of the time, but dancing was an exception. There was no way he could do that without breaking something (like somebody's bone) and making himself look stupid all at the same time. He would much rather avoid the whole thing if he could.

But, as with so many other things, Izzy was the opposite.

"Ooh, Zeke, I love this song! Let's dance!"

"Aw, uh, I doon't knoo'---"

But of course, Izzy wouldn't take 'noo' for an answer; instead she jumped to her feet, pulled Ezekiel up by the arm and dragged him onto the dance floor.

"Agh! Izzy, let goo a' me! Come on, I---oof!"

She came to a sudden stop, and Ezekiel accidentally slammed into her. She took quick advantage of this, pulling him close and slippinh one of her small, dainty hands into his huge, beefy one, and positioned his other hand onto her waist before he had any time to object. She smiled at him.

"There, ya see? That ain't so bad, is it, Zekey-poo?"

"Well---um, uh---"

Izzy had slipped effortlessly into leading; Ezekiel had no choice but to either pull away and storm back to the table, or allow her to trap him. Well, at least it was one of those slow, close-together kind of dances, he thought; Izzy usually wanted to do those crazy, fly-around-the-room kind, (mostly, Ezekiel suspected, because it gave her an excuse to break things while making it look like an accident). Huddled close to his girlfriend, so close he was sure she could feel the rapid beating of his heart, at least he knew there was no chance of him breaking a window or something.

Though there _was _an increased chance of breaking something of Izzy's.

"Oof! You keep stepping on my feet, Zeke!"

"Uh---soo'ry, eh?"

"Oh, no, don't worry about it. I kind of like it, it keeps things exciting, you know? Unpredictable. Like, I don't know when you're gonna---_ooh!_ See? This is fun!"

"Heh-heh…"

Ezekiel gave one of his nervous grin-grimaces. Izzy just smiled at rested her head on his shoulder. Ezekiel's smile faltered as his face began to turn pink.

"Hmm…isn't this lovely, Zekey-poo?"

"Uh…" He swallowed. "Yeah, eh?"

Without thinking he wrapped his arms tighter, pulling her closer; slowly his heart beat went back down and his hands stopped sweating. Without even trying his footwork became smoother, though not so much as to deprive Izzy of her toe-crushing amusement.

"Mmm…you're a great dancer, you know that Zeke?"

Ezekiel smiled and blushed again. "Thanks."

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**A/N:** Next update...someday! (Hopefully _after_ I manage to _finally_ finish the new "Snakebite" chapter...)

And oh, this is my fiftieth story! :-D Neat.


	2. Skiing

**Author's Notes:** I have nothing much to say here, except "thanks for the reviews, please leave more and hope you enjoy!" Oh, and I guess this takes place during Season 3, or some alternate universe...or something.

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Chapter Two  
Skiing

"On your mark…"

Ezekiel gulped and turned around for a moment, looking at the redheaded girl standing poised beside him.

"Get set…"

Izzy---the girl he was head over heels for, but at the same time his competition and opponent for this challenge---turned and looked back at him through her goggles, grinning excitedly.

"GO!"

Both of them turned back instantly and pushed off from the starting line, shooting past Chris down the hill; on either side the two teams cheered for their respective competitors, as Ezekiel closed his eyes for a quick prayer and Izzy screamed insanely to those yetis who would never take her alive.

She had a reason to be more confident: Izzy had the clear advantage in this competition, being a world-class expert at any sport where participants were likely to get killed. Ezekiel, on the other hand, had grown up on a flat prairie and had hardly ever skied in his life.

A fact which he proved in the first ten seconds by nearly crashing into a rock.

"_Agh!_"

He quickly swerved out of the way, fumbled and nearly swept out (wiped in? Something like that), as Izzy sailed by, her hair whipping behind her as she cackled like the beautiful madwoman she was.

"Ooh noo you doon't," Ezekiel muttered, narrowing his eyes against the cold as he took off after her, somehow managing to catch up a minute later. Izzy looked over and laughed, grinning wickedly.

"Isn't this fun, Zeke? Ooh, look out! First jump coming up!"

"Huh?!" Ezekiel turned and saw the ledge loom into view, complete with snowy wooden ramp. His eyes widened, face paling to about a shade darker than the snow. "Uh-ooh."

"WHA-HA! WHOO!"

"_AGH!_"

Both contestants went flying through the air, Izzy laughing, Ezekiel with a low bellow of fear. He closed his eyes tightly, expecting to crash**—**

—and, after what felt like a _ridiculously _long time, felt his skis hit the ground, stumbled for a few steps, but then managed to right himself so he was once again sailing half-competently through the snow down the mountain.

Ezekiel blinked. "I'm alive?" he said, flabbergasted.

"Whoo, made it, Zeke!" Izzy shouted, once again skiing beside him. "Ooh, here comes the next one! YEE-HAW-HA-HA!"

The second ramp came up; this time Ezekiel clenched his jaw, speeding along the path towards it; Izzy saw this and giggled, pushing herself faster to keep up.

"WHEE!" she called, flying through the air.

"WHOO=HOO!" Ezekiel countered, flying along beside her.

Ezekiel's skis hit the ground again; this time he only lost his balance for a second, and grinned broadly as he righted himself. This wasn't so bad after all, eh! Heck, this was downright _fun_ once you stopped being terrified! Who knew he would have been so good at this? He turned over and called to Izzy. "This is great, eh?!"

"Eh-eh!" she giggled, then motioned with her head. "Last one! See you at the finish line, bucko!"

"We'll see aboot that, ha-ha!"

The two went flying towards the ramp again; Ezekiel pushed hard with his…skiing sticky-thingies, he didn't know what they were called, and managed to pull ahead of Izzy by a second, taking off into the air with a wild whoop of joy. He heard Izzy let out a laugh behind him**—**but it was suddenly cut off by an "uh-oh," just as Ezekiel's skis hit the ground.

"_Aaaggghhh!_"

He turned; Izzy, who had apparently been trying to execute some sort of stunning mid-air back-flipping somersault of death, or something, had somehow messed up and lost control, falling with her legs held out away from the ground and trying with no success to right herself. Ezekiel's eyes widened again and he spun around, skiing over to her as Chris' voice boomed over the loudspeakers.

"And with only fifty feet left in the race, it looks like Ezekiel has this all tied up! And if---hey. Hey! What the---"

Izzy screamed as Ezekiel skidded to a stop right under her, diving forward---

---just in time to catch her, nearly falling forward with her sudden extra weight filling his outstretched arms.

Izzy blinked, then looked up into Ezekiel's startled face. Her look of fear changed instantly to a grin as she brushed her hair from her face, lifting up her goggles. "Oh. Hey Zekey!" she said, giving him a wink.

Ezekiel smiled weakly. "You ookay, eh?"

"Mmm..." She laid her head on his shoulder, snuggling into his jacket as Ezekiel's numb face started to burn. "Never better."

"Um---" Chris rushed out with his microphone in hand, just as the two teams were scrambling down the path towards the finish line. "Since neither Ezekiel nor Izzy have crossed the finish line yet, it's still anybody's ra---"

"You look coold. Do you want me to take you back to the mess hall, eh?"

"Ooh! Can you make me some hot chocolate?" Izzy asked, looking up at him with a childlike twinkle in her eyes.

Chris blinked. "What?! No, you two need to---"

"A' course!" Ezekiel said, grinning wildly as he pulled Izzy closer. "With real chocolate too, eh. Not that stoore-bought crud."

"And can it have marshmellows and whipped cream, and those little flakes of chocolate and some Reeses M&Ms? And with mashed-up potato chips and a hint of Scotch mixed in?"

"Er---soo'r. Whatever you like, eh."

Ezekiel turned and began to carry her away. Chris, along with most of the other contestants, gaped after them.

"No---get back here!" Heather raged, stomping her foot. "_You're supposed to be finishing this challenge!_"

"Come back, Zeke, you were almost there!"

Neither of the two lovebirds seemed to hear them; Ezekiel simply carried Izzy past the finish line without a glance and disappeared into the mess hall.

Everybody stared in silence. Cody giggled into his hand. Courtney glared at him, annoyed, then turned to Chris. "Well?! Who wins then?!"

"I don't know!" Chris said, throwing up his hands as Chef tossed his hat onto the snow. "And there goes our bet, I had a hundred bucks on that inbred little lothario..."

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**A/N:** I live in Florida and have thus never skied; sorry if that means I described it poorly. Either way, please tell me via review! ;-D


	3. Hiking

**Author's Notes:** I actually wrote a whole little story for this, realized it was kind of dumb, then thought for a minute and came up with this instead. So, a bit more work put into this word...hope it shows. :-)

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Chapter Three  
Hiking

A hike had seemed like such a good idea at the time.

Considering that Ezekiel had grown up on a farm, it might seem odd that he never considered himself much of a nature person. It wasn't quite that he _disliked_ nature, mind you; he liked animals, he liked trees and grass and all that stuff, but he liked it the way it was back on the farm: controlled, tamed, and never too far from the inside of his house. Back home most of his outdoor activity was spent doing chores; the rest of the time he spent either studying inside, reading inside, watching TV inside or...well, you get the idea. Which probably helped to explain his pale skin, slight pudginess and vitamin D deficiency.

Now, the way Ezekiel saw it, he was fulfilling his doctor's orders to "get more fresh air and sun" just fine by laying around Playa des Losers' pool with one of his mother's away-from-home-homework assignments. But Izzy kept insisting he needed more exercise, and the fact that she was bored out of her mind with all this luxury and basically making a pest of herself to the others didn't help matters either. So one day, he agreed to go on a little hike with her through the woods, just a short, relaxing little walk to kill some time and hopefully burn off some of Izzy's excess energy.

Getting lost hadn't been part of the plan. Or getting separated.

Or the bear.

"_RAWR!_"

"_AGH!_"

Ezekiel stumbled, his ankle twisting on a tree root. He fell to the ground, banging his forehead and tasting moist earth on his tongue. He spat and flipped around, backing up slowly along the ground with wide eyes as the bear stepped slowly towards him, its own beady black eyes glittering angrily.

Ezekiel's back hit a tree trunk as he trembled, blinking terror-sweat out of his eyes. At first he had been hoping it was just Izzy, wearing the same costume she had used during the camping challenge back on the show, but no, those three huge slashes on his jacket---each one made about an inch from his skin---was making him think that this was indeed the real bear standing in front of him, rearing up to its full height and opening its fetid mouth wide. Ezekiel gulped loudly, picturing himself in a full-body cast in a bed next to Cody's.

The bear raised its paw in the air, its black claws gleaming; Ezekiel closed his eyes tightly, turning away and raising his arm in futile defence---

"_HEEEEEEEE-YA!_"

A blur of green shot out of the trees, slamming into the bear's head; it let out a cry of surprise and staggered, even as a knee and then an elbow slammed into it with more force than any creature that small should have been able to produce. Ezekiel, waiting tensely for the imminent pain, opened his eyes and blinked, just as the sudden attacker had forced the bear against another tree and was pummeling it furiously.

"_Nobody hurts My Zeke, you ursine ignoramus!_" Izzy screamed, punching the beast so hard in the side of the head that it fell to the ground. It quickly managed to climb onto all fours and retreat, whimpering, into the trees; Izzy ran after it for a few steps, shaking her fist, then suddenly threw back her head and began pounding her chest.

"_Aaaa-AAAA-AAAA-AAAA-AGGHH! _Take _that,_ you furry brown bastard!"

She gave a small sigh, ran a hand through her hair and she turned. She was surprised to see Ezekiel gaping at her, mouth and eyes wide open, head cocked slightly in a state of shock.

Izzy blinked. "You okay, Zeke?"

Ezekiel blinked too and nodded, the shocked expression still frozen on his face.

Izzy smiled, reaching down to pull him suddenly to his feet. "Great! Well, this was okay, but let's head back to the resort now. This nature hike is turning out a lot less exciting than I expected."

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**A/N:** Short and with little to do with actual hiking, but eh, this prompt wasn't really working for me. And these are all turning out pretty short, aren't they? I think the next one will too...anyway, until then, please review! ;-)


	4. Running

**Author's Notes:** Well, _that_ took an inordinately long time for something so short. Hope you enjoy!

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Chapter Four  
Running

Izzy burst through the front doors of Playa des Losers, eyes darting wildly around the lobby, before she took off and ran down the right hallway as fast as she could.

A moment later the door burst open again and a second pair of feet began running, echoing down the corridor after her.

Izzy bent her head down and picked up speed, elbowing past people as she fled.

"Whoa!"

"Hey!"

"_Agh!_"

"_Idiot!_"

Izzy, however, merely leapt over Harold's fallen form and spun around the corner, skidding to a stop and looking around wildly. "Broom closet! _Perfect!_"

She ducked inside, slamming the door just as her pursuer came running around the corner after her. She froze; outside she could hear the pound of shoes on linoleum, running right past the door without a pause. She grinned wickedly as the footsteps faded into the distance.

"Nobody outsmarts Izzy!" she whispered, quietly opening the door to slip back out---only to accidently bumped right into Courtney as she came out of the room across the hall. Both girls let out a cry and fell on top of each other onto the floor, along with about half a dozen LSAT books she was carrying in her arms.

"_Agh!_" Courtney pushed Izzy off of her roughly, raising her voice even as Izzy waved her hands and slushed her. "Watch where you're going, you psycho! I---"

"IZZY!"

She looked up---Ezekiel was standing at the other end of the hallway, obviously summoned back by Courtney's shouting. Izzy cursed.

"Whoops! Sorry, Court, gotta go! _AI-YAH!_"

"Ooh noo you doon't!"

"_AGH!_"

Courtney screamed in fright as Izzy jumped over her and back down the hallway, and again a moment later when Ezekiel did the same thing, leaping right over her head as he chased after the psychotic redhead who by now was running through the lobby again, elbowing her way between a startled Cody and an irate Noah as she headed for the elevator.

"HEY! Watch where you're going, you---_AGH!_"

Ezekiel ran right after Izzy, knocking Noah to the ground in his haste---Izzy was now waiting by the elevators, hopping from one foot to the other as she waited for them to open. She turned and saw Ezekiel, snapped her fingers in annoyance, then turned and ran down another hallway just as the metal doors slid apart.

"HA HA! You'll never catch _me,_ Zekey-poo!"

"We'll see aboot that, eh!"

Izzy threw back her head and laughed, dashed around another corner---then froze when she realized that this hallway led into a quiet sitting room, with no other way to escape.

"Oh damn---" She turned around to go back, but found Ezekiel right behind her, blocking her escape. Her eyes widened slightly as he hunched down like a linebacker, holding his arms out to foil any attempt to get past.

Izzy took a defensive posture, taking a step back. Ezekiel grinned. For a moment the two just stared at each other, a bead of sweat running down Izzy's face. Then she suddenly leapt to the side to try to get past him, and he jumped after her, reaching---

"_HA!_"

"_AW, DAMN IT!_"

Izzy landed on the couch, Ezekiel on the floor by her feet, his hand wrapped tightly around her ankle. Instantly he jumped up, screamed "Noo' _you're_ It, eh!" and took off running, cackling insanely.

Izzy growled, leaping up after him. "Not for long!" And with that she immediately chased after him out of the room.

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**A/N: **Izzy-centric with Zeke acting psychotic. Thought I'd mix it up a little, eh? ;-) I kind of rushed writing this, I hope it's still alright. Please review!


	5. Swimming

**Chapter Five  
Swimming**

"Hey Zeke. Zeke. Zeke!"

Ezekiel, caught up in the book he was reading, didn't seem to notice the crazy redhead bouncing around his chair (an ability that many of the other campers would have killed for). Grimacing, Izzy bent beside him and shouted directly into his ear.

"_ZEEEEEKE!_"

"Whah?!" Ezekiel jumped, the book flying out of his hands and onto the Playa des Losers dock. "_Gah,_ Izzy! Doon't doo that, eh!" He sighed, holding a hand to his chest. "What do you want?"

"I'm goin' swimmin'! You wanna come?"

"Um…" Ezekiel glanced back at the book he was reading; it was homework (summer vacation meant little to his parents), but he had read enough today to justify a short break. "Ookay." He put the book down and began to pull his T-shirt up over his head.

Izzy looked around; she and Ezekiel were the only two people on the dock. An idea suddenly struck her, and a maniacal grin spread slowly across her face. "Hey, Zeke? I got an idea."

"What?" He asked, standing and stretching his sleeping legs.

"Let's go skinny-dipping!"

"What's that?"

"It's when you dip. _In your skin._"

Ezekiel frowned; he had learned by now that anything Izzy said had a secret meaning, but he was still fairly bad at figuring them out. "…But we already have our skin."

"And _only_ in your skin."

It took about ten seconds for Ezekiel to figure out what she meant. His eyes widened. "What?! You mean---go swimming---"

"_Naked._"

"Ooh noo!" He held up his hands, pale face turning pink. "Noo-noo-noo!"

"Aw, come on!"

"Noo!"

"_Please?_"

"Noo way, eh! Especially not with all thoose cameras around!" His crossed his arms resolutely. Izzy pouted.

"Aw. You're no fun."

"I'm fun! Just not beans like you are!"

"You mean 'nuts,' honey."

"Whatever."

Izzy pouted for another moment, then grinned again. "Fine, whatever. Last one in's a rotten egg! _Ha ha ha!_"

With that she ran to the end of the dock and cannonballed into the lake, cackling insanely. Ezekiel jumped back as the splash of water hit him, then grinned and ran after her.

"_Geronimo!_"

_SPLASH!_

Izzy cackled as Ezekiel surfaced, grinning at her. She splashed him, and of course he splashed back, and soon a two-person water-battle ensued.

"_Ha ha!_ You can never beat me, My Zeke!"

"Ooh yeah?! We'll see aboot that, eh!"

The battle only lasted a few minutes, however, before Ezekiel gave in; he had known from the beginning that she would wind up beating him, and he just grinned at her as she gloated for the next several minutes with an oddly sophisticated air.

When she finally stopped chattering, Izzy sighed and leaned back, submerging everything but her face in the water. "_Ah._ This is nice, isn't it, Zeke?"

"Mm-hmm." Ezekiel grinned as he drifted around on his back, staring up at the cloudless blue sky above them. "It's great weather 'oot. I just hoope the sharks doon't come, eh?"

He paused, waiting for a response, insane or otherwise; when he heard nothing, he frowned. "I said, eh?"

No response. Ezekiel righted himself and looked around, suddenly finding himself alone. "Izzy?" He spun around in the water, frowning. "Izzy?! Where are you?"

For a moment all was silent, until a single bubble popped a few feet off. It was then that Ezekiel saw the ripples, but he had no time to react before the underwater monster's head collided with his stomach, and he felt her arms wrap around his waist.

"_Agh!_"

Ezekiel fell back, splashing in the water with his arms and legs flailing. The insane sea-Izzy wrapped herself around him tighter, however, and a mad, watery wrestling match ensued.

"Agh! Let me goo, dang---_pffft!_"

Ezekiel spat out a mouthful of water and managed to kick away from his captor, panting. Izzy surfaced, grinning madly.

"Oh Ze-eke? Look what I got."

He stopped panting and looked up, blinking blearily to get the water out of his eyes. Izzy was waving a pair of sopping wet shorts through the air, grinning her Izzyish grin.

Ezekiel blinked. "Where did yoo get…" Then he slowly looked down, and instantly felt his face turn bright red. "_Agh!_"

"Hee-hee---see, Zeke? Skinny-dipping isn't so bad, is it?"

"Izzy! Give those back!"

"Why?"

"_Because I'm naked, that's why!_"

"No you're not. I let you keep your shoes _and_ your hat on. It's a compromise. By the way, why do you wear your shoes in the water anyway? It can't be easy to swim in those."

"_Just give me my pants, eh!_"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

Izzy stuck her tongue out. Ezekiel grimaced, then lunged at her through the water; his hands swept an inch from her head, but she cackled and dove to the side, and a moment later she was on the shore, wave his shorts through the air and laughing uproariously.

"If you want these back, you're gonna have to come get them!" Izzy teased, then took off, running away towards the resort.

Ezekiel gaped after her, bobbing in the lake alone and (almost) naked, still pink in the face, wondering what he should do. Then, sputtering angrily under his breath, he took off his hat and placed it strategically under the water as he began to climb onto the shore to get his shirt and book.

"_Ooh,_ she is goona pay for this one, eh..."


	6. Cooking

**Author's Notes: **This one's super-short, possibly because I scrapped my original version and rewrote half of it from scratch. (...Actually, the old one was about as long, so maybe not.) Hope you enjoy! ;-D

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**Chapter Six  
Cooking**

"Son, do you know why I decided to cook for a living?"

The question came out of nowhere, startling Ezekiel up from his work. He was doing his usual Wednesday night homework assignment---which basically meant he was making the family dinner. Ezekiel's father was a home economics teacher, as his mom had been one before he was born, so this hardly seemed odd to him; his father was only here helping him tonight because it was a recipe that Ezekiel had never tried before.

"Uh, noo sir. Why?"

Though he had initiated the conversation, Ezekiel's father took several silent seconds of chopping chicken before he answered. "Because people, Ezekiel, need to eat. You need to eat to live. So when you cook something for someone, what you're really doing is giving them life. And you're doing it through your own hard work, with your own brain, in a way to makes them happy."

Ezekiel just stared, not sure what to make of his father's profound statement.

"I met your mother in cooking school, you know."

Ezekiel _had_ already known that, though he had never thought of it in a particularly philosophical light before. Unfortunately, his father seemed to have used up all the words of wisdom that he wanted to convey; Ezekiel couldn't think of any way to respond, and when his father next spoke it was to have his son get some spices down from the cabinet.

It wasn't in his father's nature to lapse into profound conversation like that, so his words remained glued in Ezekiel's mind, and he found himself thinking of them a lot whenever he cooked for somebody. Like right now, as he gazed down at the meal he had prepared for his girlfriend.

"ZEEEEKE!" There was a loud pounding sound mixed with the clatter of dishes. "HURRY UP! I'm _STARVING!_"

"Coming, Izzy!"

Ezekiel threw on a decorative basil leaf and exited the kitchen, smiling as he set the plate down on the table before her. "There ya goo, dear. A peanut-butter and pickle sandwich, noo crusts, diagonal cut."

"And did you remember the chocolate sauce this time?"

"Ayup-yup."

"Ex-cell-ent!" Izzy grabbed the sandwich from the plate and shoved it practically whole into her mouth, crumbs flying everywhere and chocolate dribbling down her chin.

Ezekiel watched her fondly. Hey, Dad never said _what_ you had to make people, did he?


	7. Archery

**Chapter Seven  
Archery**

_TWANG!_

_FWWWT!_

_CRACK!_

The arrow struck the target on the innermost ring, only a few inches from the bull's eye. Ezekiel glanced up and smirked, drawing another arrow out of his quiver. This one hit on the other side of the center, but equally close. Hmm, now this was the hard part, getting the target perfectly without overcompensating...

Ezekiel went to retrieve his arrows, pulling them out of the tree trunk the target was tacked on, then went back to try again. Going to the edge of the forest to practice his archery had become a habit of his for the days between challenges; to him, it was the perfect combination of relaxation without too much indolence, a great way to unwind in a way that still involved some mental work. Ezekiel scowled; some of the campers had been making fun of him earlier because of this. Apparently Chris or some other producer had decided to release the unedited audition tapes on that Interwebby-thingy before the show even started, so now everyone thought that he was an idiot just because he had accidentally shot his mom in the butt. It never seemed to occur to anyone that he had been _aiming _for his mom's butt at the time.

...Wait, that came out wrong.

Meanwhile, as Ezekiel was practicing, something was moving through the treetops above him, rustling the branches as it sneaked up towards its target. A pair of eyes peeked out through the leaves, while a mouth curved upward in an evil little grin.

Ezekiel took another shot at the target. "_Yes!_" he breathed; the arrow hit almost perfectly centered, less than half an inch from a bull's-eye. Grinning again, Ezekiel reached into his quiver and took another aim. If he could just get this one a _tiny bit_ to the right of that last one, then he could---

_TWANG!_

"_Agh!_"

_TWANG!_

Just as Ezekiel fired his shot, he heard the sound of _another_ bowstring ring out from behind him; as something hit him Ezekiel jumped, releasing his own arrow to fly and hit the tree two feet above his target, too far up for him to even go and retrieve.

Ezekiel dropped his bow and spun around in circles stupidly for a moment, like a dog chasing its tail, before he finally managing to reach around and pull something stuck to the back of his jeans; it came out with a slurping _PLOP_.

It was an arrow, but instead of an arrowhead there was a pink plastic suction cup, like on a plunger, that had allowed it to stick to Ezekiel's butt. And instead of feathers, the other end had a bright pink heart attached to it.

Ezekiel stared. "What the..."

"_Yoo-hoo. _Guess who, Zekey-poo?"

He spun around to see Izzy on a nearby tree branch, laying on her stomach with a pair of angel wings on her back. She winked mischievously at him, holding up her bow.

Ezekiel glared at her, annoyed, even as he felt himself blush.

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**Author's Notes:** I don't think this is my best work, but eh, how could I resist a Cupid joke? ;-) Anyway, I'm behind on this fic, I'll really have to hustle if I want to get this done on schedule...I'll update again in the next day or two, hopefully. Until then, please review! :-D


	8. Hunting

**Author's Notes:** Why did it take me this long to write something so dang short? Because of other commitments and attempts to come up with something better. As it is this fic was supposed to be finished about a week ago...well, happy _belated_ birthday to the Kobold Necromancer, and I hope everyone enjoys this new chapter! (It's AU, just to prevent any confusion.)

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**Chapter Eight  
Hunting**

_SPLAT SPLAT! SPLAT!_

"_Ooh!_"

Ezekiel stumbled as pink paint exploded on the trees to each side of him, quickly got back up and kept running, dodging through the underbrush as the antlers slid down his head, threatening to fall. Behind him his pursuer screamed with maniacal laughter, swinging from vine to vine with one arm and firing her weapon wildly with the other.

Ezekiel was _really_ starting to wish Chris would have let him be a hunter for this challenge. Though he had managed to get almost to the end of the game without any trouble, now with only a few minutes left he could find no possible means of escape from this hunter.

"_HA HA HA! THERE IS NO ESCAPE, ZEKEY-POO!_"

Ezekiel gasped for air, looking back over his shoulder to face her. "Ooh yeah?! Well I---_agh!_"

Ezekiel felt a slight tightening around his ankle just before gravity suddenly reversed itself; he let out a cry as he was inexplicably pulled feet-first into the air, a moment later finding himself hanging upside-down from the nearest tree, a rope noose tight around his right leg.

Izzy flew off of her last vine and landed easily on the ground, throwing her arms up to the sky. "Ha-ha, _yes!_ I _knew_ my booby traps would work! You know Gwen told me it was a stupid idea when I suggested them? That reminds me, I think I actually left her and Trent down in that hole..."

Ezekiel groaned and tried to kick his way out of Izzy's trap, but only succeeded in swinging himself around and bopping his head against the tree. "_Oof!_ Agh, _Izzy! _Let me doo'n from here, eh!"

"Oh-ho-ho-ho no," Izzy chuckled, shaking her head. "That's not how the game works, Z-man! The game" she suddenly held up her paintball gun, as Ezekiel's eyes went wide "is hunting. And Izzy just caught her prey."

Ezekiel threw his arms up (or _down,_ in this case) over his face. "_Agh!_ Noo, please doon't shoot, eh! Coortney and Eva and Duncan'll try to voote me off for soo'r if you do!"

Izzy took a step closer, suddenly throwing her gun off to the ground. "Oh, I'm not going to _shoot_ you, Zeke."

He blinked. "Huh? Then what are you---_AGH!_"

* * *

"And that's another dirty deer for the Bass team, ha-ha! And let's see, Ezekiel looks clean...of paint, at least." Chris raised his eyebrow. "What's that pink stuff all over your face, dude?"

"Doon't ask," Ezekiel grumbled, trying his best to rub off the smeared lipstick with the cuff of his sleeve. Izzy, standing with the rest of her team, chuckled wickedly to herself.

* * *

**A/N:** Random question: Should I try to finish the last few chapters of this fic first, of the epilogue of "Snakebite?" Please tell me that---plus your opinions about this chapter---in a review! :-)


	9. Riding

**Author's Notes: **Sorry this took so long. :-/ I was trying to think of stuff to fill this chapter with...these are all so short, and I keep trying to fill them but then just wind up with short chapters and long intervals. XD Anyway, hope you enjoy!

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**Chapter Nine  
Riding**

"Ha ha---_whoa! OOF!_"

"Agh! Izzy, are you ookay?!"

Izzy, who had landed in one of the many muddy puddle scattered around Ezekiel's family's farm, merely sat up and shook her head briskly, making Ezekiel jump back as drops of dirty water went flying. "_Whoo!_ That was fun," she said, allowing her boyfriend to help her to her feet. "But I don't think I'm doing too well. Ol' Buttercup here doesn't seem to like me anymore than your parents do!"

She gave the horse a slap on the hindquarters; Buttercup glared at her, snorting.

Ezekiel frowned. "My parents like you! Just...not yoo'r choose of dinner conversation," he muttered, tapping his fingers together nervously.

"Well you should have _told_ me that my Aunt Tyrone's sex-change operation would be a sore subject!"

"But you never _toold_ me about---"

"Ezekiel! How are things going out there?"

Both teenagers turned; Ezekiel's father was standing at the barn door about fifty feet away from the horse pen. Izzy grinned and waved at him enthusiastically.

"Great Mr. Bouctouche! Ol' Buttercup here just keeps trying to kill me is all!"

Ezekiel's father raised an eyebrow and looked over at the horse. Buttercup looked back at him and nodded several times in agreement.

"Hmm...well, he _does _tends to do that to people he don't like. You might want to try something easier for your first riding lesson, young lady."

With that and a curt nod he went back inside the barn. Ezekiel scratched his head nervously. Izzy turned to him. "See? Your dad sees my point. And _he_ doesn't even _like_ me!"

Ezekiel sighed, rolling his eyes as he began to climb onto Buttercup's back. "Look, Izzy, if you can handle a shark you can handle a hoorse, eh." He settled into the saddle and reached down, offering Izzy his hand. Izzy grinned and took it, settling into the seat behind him.

"Ooh, _this_ is nice," she said teasingly, reaching around Ezekiel's shoulders to wrap her arms around his neck. Ezekiel turned slightly pink and cleared his throat loudly.

"Noo', see, the key is just letting the hoorse knoo' who's in charge," Ezekiel said, doing his best to ignore how Izzy was purposefully drawing closer to him and making his body temperature rise. "Noo', I doon't knoo' why Buttercup woon't do that with you---"

"Izzy is good at being the boss!"

"Yes you are. But anyway, if Buttercup woon't listen to _you,_ he'll at least listen to _me,_ he always does, so we just have to---_hi-hoo, Buttercup! Yee-ha!_"

"_NEEE-E-E-EH!_"

"_AGH!_"

"_WHOA!_"

Buttercup threw himself back onto his hind legs, then suddenly buckled; Ezekiel managed to grab the reins and hold on in a panic, but Izzy's grip slipped from his neck and she fell, screaming, into the mud with another wet splash.

"_Agh!_ Izzy!"

Ezekiel jumped down and ran to her side; Izzy, however, merely looked up at Buttercup with the same steely gaze that she gave to Chef before a fight. "Oh, you're _good._"

Buttercup let out a light neigh and puffed out his chest proudly.

Ezekiel bit his lip as Izzy allowed him to help her to her feet. "Maybe we shoo'd just foorget about this, eh?" he suggested. "I doon't want you to get hurt oor anything."

"But I wanna learn to ride _something!_" Izzy cried, crossing her arms and pouting.

"Well I knoo' Iz, but Buttercup's the oonly hoorse we have here, eh! I _guess_ we coo'd try one of the neighbors', like oold man Smith's poony or---_agh, hey!_" Ezekiel windmilled his arms and spun around. "What are you dooing, eh?!"

"Ridin' _you_,hon!" Izzy said cheerfully, settling herself comfortably onto his shoulders and grabbing the back of his hair like a set of reins. "How mush, Zekey-poo! Giddy-up, _yee-haw_!"

"_Agh!_" Ezekiel stumbled, trying his best to keep either of them from falling. "Ride me---get _off,_ Iz!"

"No! Now ride, Zekey-poo! Ride like the wind!"

"_Agh!_"

* * *

"Ezekiel?" his father called, coming out of the barn again. "Is everything still alright out he---_whah?!_"

The word died on his lip as a sudden green blur streaked past his view as fast as a horse. He jumped back just as the flash came to a sudden stop, and watched as his son went flew off to tumble across the grass while his girlfriend, walking on all fours, reached her foot up to scratch behind her ear like a dog.

Ezekiel came to a stop and sat up, laughing, but less than three seconds later Izzy had tackled him again. "_My turn again!_"

"Ha-ha---ookay, eh!"

Mr. Bouctouche watched his son give Izzy a piggy-back ride for the next several seconds, then shook his head and went inside without another word.

* * *

**A/N:** Only one chapter left; it'll be longer, I hope. I've started it already so it should be up soon. Until then, hope you enjoyed and please review! :-)


	10. Flying

**Author's Notes: **Well, on the one-month anniversary of when I had wanted to end this story, the last chapter is finally done. Incidentally, I had this story in mind practically since I stumbled across the prompt list; I think it might be my favorite of the collection. :-D

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**Chapter Ten  
Flying**

_TSSST—_"Hello, contestants, this is your captain speaking! Due to more _totally_ unexpected circumstances—"

Most of the castmates groaned, while over the intercome they heard Chef suddenly scream "Dang it, Chris! We been sitting on this runway for three-and-a-half hours now! Brother's gotta use the bathroom!"

"Well, I'm sorry, Chef, but we're trying to imitate a real airline here. That means we have to wait at _least_ six more hours before—"

"Oh, give me that thing!"

"Hey---_AGH!_"

The passengers heard the two struggle for a moment. After a moment Chef seemed to have won, his voice bursting through the intercom with Chris whining in the background.

"We leavin' in five minutes! Be ready, maggots!"

"We've been ready for five _hours!_" Noah screamed.

"_QUIET!_"

The intercom crackled again and both pilots' voices were silenced. As most of the other TDM contestants muttered darkly to each other, Ezekiel turned to the seat beside him with a slightly lopsided grin. "Well, at least we're finally goona goo soon, eh? I hoope Chef—uh…Izzy?"

Izzy was curled up in her seat with her arms around her knees, whimpering in a very un-Izzy-like way. Ezekiel frowned, leaning down toward her and shaking her shoulder. "Izzy? You ookay?"

Izzy's eyes darting toward him as if snapped out of a trance. "Okay, I can't _do_ this," she said suddenly, sitting up and starting to unstrap herself from the seat.

Ezekiel's eyes widened. "What?! Noo—"

"No, Zeke, I'm not—damn stupid seatbelt!" Unable to unbuckle herself with her shaking hands, Izzy began to gnaw at the straps binding her with her teeth.

"Izzy, stop—_stop!_" Ezekiel said sternly, holding her face and trying to pry open her jaws; Izzy let out a growl but spit the seatbelt out, glaring. "Good girl," Ezekiel said, adjusting it securely back across her chest.

"But I don't want to _be here, _Zeke!" Izzy whined, laying back against the seat again and closing her eyes. "Oh, why did Chris have to choose a stupid _plane-_based season anyway? Why couldn't we just swim to the different countries on dolphins, you know, like the Atlanteans do?"

"I doon't knoo', Iz, but you cannot get oo't noo', eh. I knoo' you're scared—"

"_Izzy fears nothing!_" Izzy cried, kicking the seat in front of her ("Hey! Watch it, Crazy Girl!" Heather snapped, turning aruond to glare). "Izzy is just…_concerned…_about this plane's safety! I mean, did you _see_ this thing?! What if we crash as part of Chris' horrible, evil little scheme?!"

"Chris woo'dn't let the plane crash, eh, not when he's on it at least."

"Yeah, okay, but what about…er, terrorists?! Look at that guy over there," Izzy instructed, lowering her voice to a whisper and pointing towards a nervous-looking man in the front row. "See how jittery he is? Awfully suspicious, isn't he?"

"…Izzy, that's _Oowen,_" Ezekiel said, giving her a look.

Izzy stared at Ezekiel as if he were out of his mind. "_Pfft,_ yeah—_or three guys wearing an Owen suit! _Ever think of that, Zeke? Of course not, you're not a terrorist, you don't know how they think. Man, you'd be _terrible _in airline security, I mean he could be hiding a whole cell under that shirt!"

"Izzy…"

"Or, or—what if there's snakes, huh?! Snakes on the plane, just like in that nonsensical movie with the obvious title! Or what if we're flying at night and there's a full moon, huh?! _Courtney would kill us!_"

"For the last time, _I am not a werewolf!_" Courtney screamed from the seat behind them.

Izzy turned around to snarl at her. "Well nobody else I know gets _that's_ ticked off during _their_ time of the month!"

Duncan snickered; Courtney glared and then elbowed him angrily in the groin. Izzy motioned to her. "See?! _See?!_"

"_Izzy!_"

"_What?!_"

She spun around to face Ezekiel again; he had, quite unconsciously, grabbed her wrist to keep her from launching herself at Courtney, a fact which Izzy took in even as Ezekiel seemed too distracted to notice. He forced his annoyed expression away, then reached forward to run his other hand through her bangs. Izzy felt her anger melt away as nuzzled against his hand, smiling softly.

"I knoo' you doon't like flying, eh," Ezekiel said softly, "but you doon't have to be afraid, ookay? I mean, you've done a lot scarier stuff than this on the _shoo'_, eh!"

"_Eugh—_but we're going to be flying around _all season!_" Izzy moaned, her head drooping into Ezekiel's palm. "I mean, did Chris pick this theme _just_ to torture _me_ personally?"

Ezekiel thought no, he probably did it because doing so could torture Owen too, but decided not to say that. "Well...we all have to do things we're afraid of sometimes, eh?" he said, frowning. "And Chris _does _seem to like dooing things just to break us out."

"_Freak_ us out, honey."

"Yeah, that's what I mean."

Izzy was silent for a moment, then sighed, laying her head on Ezekiel's shoulder. "Zekey-poo? What are _you _afraid of?"

"Me? Er, uh..." he tapped his fingers together nervously, turning slightly pink. "......balloons."

"You're afraid of balloons?"

"Doon't laugh, eh! I doon't like the loud noises, they sound like bombs when they pop!"

"Oh, I know! And you know what else, those big ones shaped like cartoon characters that you see in the parades? Those things could swarm down and _eat_ you, man! And then they could like, make these HUGE pops with you inside them, and you would just go flying and---"

"Um, Izzy? Could we change the subject?" Ezekiel said meekly, his blush giving way to a sudden blanch.

"Oh, okay. ...Zekey-poo?"

"Yeah?"

"If Chris was making us do this season in a giant hot air balloon, would you do it?"

Ezekiel blinked. "If I had to, I guess." He looked down at her, then smiled slightly. "I'd probably feel better as long as you were there too, eh."

The pair smiled at each other for a moment—then suddenly jumped as the plane began to vibrate and hum under their feet.

_TSSST—_"This is your captain speakin'. Chris has been restrained, as we're takin' off now. Anybody got a problem with that?!"

"WHOO-HOO!"

"YES! _YES!_"

"THERE IS A GOD!"

"GO CHEF! Wow, I never thought I'd say _that..._"

Ezekiel and Izzy looked at each other again. "You goona be ookay, Iz?"

She nodded, then snuggled up closer to him, wrapping her arms around him and laying her head against his chest. "As long as you're hear," she whispered, smiling.

He smiled back, wrapping his arm around her too. "Of coo'rse, eh."

...

"Althoo' actually, it's a three-'oor flight, eh, soo coo'd I just go real quick and just use the men's room—?"

"_No!_" Izzy said, squeezing against him tighter and like a five-year-old just asked to share her favorite toy.

Ezekiel sighed. "Ookay..." **

* * *

A/N:** And thus, this story is complete. I hope you liked, I kind of wanted to show the more vulnerable, softer side of Izzy there. Anyway, happy 24-and-1/12 birthday to the Kobold Necromancer, and some-age-and-1/6 birthday to Imagi too! :-D And now I can finally get back to my other stories. Oy my readers are going to kill me...see you whenever I write my next one-shot, and until then, please review! :-)


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